Give your personnel data an annual checkup

  • Published
  • By George Woodward
  • 82nd Training Wing

January may be nearing its end, but the new year is still young – and it’s a perfect time to make sure your personnel records are current and correct. Keeping these records up to date is not just a good idea – it can affect your family, your career and your pay.

Here are sites to visit to check your data:

 

Military Members

  • Virtual Record of Emergency Data (vRED) – Log in to myPers at mypers.af.mil. vRED ensures the Air Force has emergency contact information and beneficiary designations in the event an Airman becomes a casualty.

  • Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) – Go to www.dmdc.osd.mil to update your name and your family members’ names, update personal and work contact information, and view health care information or transfer education benefits. This is especially important if your family has changed through marriage, divorce, birth of a child, etc.

  • Review your Single Unit Retrieval Format (SURF) and your personnel records in the Military Personnel Data System (MilPDS) at mypers.af.mil and through theMilitary Personnel Flight customer support section to ensure that your career information is correct and complete – before your next promotion cycle.

  • Update your assignment preferences, also at mypers.af.mil. Of course “needs of the Air Force” always take priority, but this is your way to make your preferences known.

  • Update your Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) information if your marital or dependent status has changed, by visiting your Military Personnel Flight customer support section.

  • Make sure your contact information is complete in the AtHoc system by right-clicking the purple AtHoc globe in the system tray of your government computer. You can also add cell phone numbers and family members to ensure they receive emergency notifications. Also consider downloading the AtHoc app on your cell phone or tablet.

  • Carefully review your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) at mypay.dfas.mil to ensure everything is correct, including any allotments. Be sure to verify that your contact information is correct in the system as well.

  • If you contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (and if not, why not?) go to www.tsp.gov to verify your contact information is current and correct.

     

Federal Civilian Employees

  • Verify and update your career information in MyBiz by logging in myPers at mypers.af.mil and clicking “myBiz.” Here, you can add emergency, personal and work contact information, check pay and benefit information, ensure your supervisor is correct, and review career information such as current appointment information, veteran and disability status, Standard Form 50 personnel actions and more. Note that MyBiz will take on increased importance this year as the new appraisal process is implanted.

  • For a more comprehensive look at your benefits – especially if you’re nearing retirement – log on to the Employee Benefits Information System (EBIS) via myPers. Here, you can get a statement of retirement benefits, use various retirement and Thrift Savings Plan calculators, view online seminars about federal benefits and event submit a retirement request.

  • Check your contact information in the AtHoc system by right-clicking the purple AtHoc globe in the system tray of your government computer. You can also add cell phone numbers and family members so they also get emergency notifications. Also consider downloading the AtHoc app on your cell phone or tablet.

  • Review your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) at mypay.dfas.mil to ensure everything is correct, including any allotments. It’s especially important for civilian employees to ensure their contact information is correct in the system, since the myPay address and contact information flows to your health insurer and other federal benefits providers.

  • If you contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan (again, if not, why not?) go to www.tsp.gov to verify your contact information is current and correct.